Taking Chances (37 page)

But now he was back, and not only did he have the new and improved ATI to administer, he also had the genesis of a thriving production company in World Wide Entertainment. He couldn’t say he was in total agreement with all the projects they were considering for development, but he didn’t plan on taking issue with any, there were always going to be bombs, no matter how hard one strove to avoid them. God knew he’d suffered his share.

What he did want to address, however, was the current status of
Rachel’s Story
from both a financial and production standpoint, which was why he had saved it for last.

Right now he was reviewing the configuration of the movie’s investment commitments, the proposed returns, fund-release dates and costs of insurance. They were looking at a budget of around twenty-plus million, with a further ten-to-fifteen for marketing, promotion and publicity. For an independent, this was massive, possibly even delusional, except McCann sure as hell appeared to be pulling it off. And it seemed Sandy Paull had managed to bag an impressive number of backers, not to mention pre-sales, over there in Europe, which shouldn’t have been as much of a surprise as it was. She was a ruthless little cookie, unburdened by morals or conscience, and apparently blessed by a planetary gestalt that always seemed to put her in the right place at the right time.

‘OK,’ he said finally, looking up, ‘it all seems pretty much in shape.’

‘It is,’ Michael confirmed.

‘This could prove a major event for Hollywood, as well as World Wide,’ Forgon stated. ‘Done well, we should clean up at the box office as well as the Oscars. How’s the script looking?’

‘It’s about to enter its third draft. Tom doesn’t foresee anything significant enough to affect casting or location.
The
only remaining problem is how to end it. Vic Warren’s on board now, so it could be he’ll have something in mind on how to fix it. The names of the killers are still tightly under wraps.’

Forgon nodded. ‘OK. You’ve done a good job of bringing it to a point where you can hand over without too many problems, which is what I imagine you’re intending now I’m back in the driving seat. Problem is, it’s not what I’m intending. You started out as one of the executive producers on this movie, and that’s where you’re going to stay. And just in case you’re drawing breath to tell me which parts of my anatomy I can shove up other parts, I should make it clear to you right now that if you walk off this project I’ll see to it that the world knows that the kid Ellen is carrying might not be yours.’

Michael’s face turned pale. For a moment he could hardly believe what he’d heard. How the hell did he know? Surely to God Ellen wouldn’t have told him?

‘If you’re thinking Ellen told me, you’re wrong,’ Forgon said, apparently reading his mind. ‘I didn’t learn it from her, nor from her cousin Matty either. I guess that about covers everyone you thought knew, so let this be a reminder to you never to underestimate me. If there’s a secret to be found, I always know where to look. Now I can’t imagine you wanting Ellen to suffer the humiliation of her little secret being made public, no matter how mad you are at her and Chambers – and let me tell you, I’m on your side here, ’cos I can’t think of a worse way of finding out your little bit of pussy is getting stroked by another man’s dick.’

Michael’s fists were clenched, but even if he could find the words, there was no way he was going to dignify that with a response. What he was going to do was start working right away on regaining control. He wondered how fast he could pull it off – fast enough, he hoped, to prevent him from choking the bastard with his own foul-mouthed tongue.

‘So I want you on this movie,’ Forgon continued, ‘and I think I’ve just provided you with a good incentive for respecting my wishes. Next: I want Ellen back on it too. She told me yesterday she was going to be concentrating on other things now that Vic Warren’s on the scene, but I don’t want this show being run by a bunch of fucked-up men. It needs her input and I’m going to insist she gives it. Or maybe I should get you to insist, she’s more likely to listen to you.’

Michael continued to stare at him.

Forgon stared back.

Michael’s eyes never wavered.

‘This kind of shit don’t work with me,’ Forgon blustered. ‘I got you so tight by the balls you can’t even breathe, never mind speak, so don’t think this silent stuff has got me a-trembling.’

Michael’s smile was like ice. ‘Is that what you think it was meant to do?’ he said.

Forgon’s shrewd eyes narrowed.

Michael settled back into silence. The fact that he’d had no intention of walking off the movie wasn’t one he was going to share with Forgon, nor was he going to reveal his reluctance for Ellen to rejoin. Let the son of a bitch think what he wanted, he’d have plenty of time to ruminate on his mistakes when all this was over.

Forgon got to his feet.

Michael could see how pissed he was at not quite getting the measure of Michael’s response. Michael waited, knowing there was no way he could walk out without having the last word.

‘There’s no statute of limitations on that kid’s paternity,’ he snarled. ‘I could run with this for ever.’

Michael got up. As he walked round the desk, his eyes were lowered. He raised them only when he was right in front of Forgon, and had the momentary satisfaction of seeing the man shrink. ‘Let me tell you this,’ he said softly. ‘If as much as a single whisper of doubt over that
pregnancy
ever gets made public I’ll know where to come. Whether it was you who did the talking or anyone else, I’ll hold you accountable, and believe you me, with your heart, you can’t afford the price.’

After Forgon had gone Michael walked over to the window and stared down at the stream of traffic below. Inside he was shaking. He knew he was on quicksand and would have to act fast before the bastard pushed him under. Putting him at an emotional disadvantage, by returning Ellen to work with Chambers, was a smart move, and one Michael knew he was going to find hard to deal with. But he could and he would, he just needed a moment to think it through. Except there was no way he could foresee the outcome of that, nor, on reflection, was it something he was going to torment himself with. Of course, he could always ask Ellen to go against Forgon’s wishes, but there was just no way his pride would allow that.

So the immediate question was, what to deal with first, getting Ellen back on board, or setting his legitimate takeover of World Wide in motion. He’d never been comfortable holding the gun of statutory rape to Forgon’s head, it wasn’t his style of doing things, and it made him about as low as Forgon for resorting to it. He hadn’t had much choice at the time, however, and he was a damned fool for not organizing a takeover long before now. The trouble was, he didn’t have the funds to do it, not with everything he had already tied up in World Wide, and with nothing to borrow against while his share of McCann Paull was standing surety for the loans he’d taken to get World Wide off the ground.

He needed to speak to the other shareholders, perhaps call a meeting. In the meantime he guessed he should get on with the business of reinstating Ellen, so picking up the phone he buzzed through to her.

‘Ellen Shelby’s office,’ Maggie answered.

Michael hesitated. Obviously Maggie was in with Ellen, but that wasn’t what had stalled him, it was hearing Ellen’s name. They’d decided that after they were married she’d be known as Ellen Shelby McCann in the long form, and Ellen McCann in the short.

‘Hello?’

‘Uh, Maggie,’ he said. ‘Is Ellen there?’

‘Sure, I’ll pass you over.’

‘Hi,’ Ellen said a moment later. ‘What can I do for you?’

Her apparent ability to handle their break-up was suddenly back in his face and this time, rather than confusing him, it irked him.

‘Forgon’s just left here,’ he said.

‘Oh? How did it go?’

‘You’re asking me? I thought you’d already know. You’re back on the movie. He doesn’t want it being run by a bunch of fucked-up men, so congratulations, you’re getting it all your way. Michelle’s pulled out, Forgon’s reinstating you, and I guess it won’t be too much longer before Chambers’ll be saying he wants you as the senior executive.’

The line went dead and seconds later she was standing at his door.

‘Are you trying to tell me that you think I went to Forgon and begged him to get me back on the movie?’ she demanded, her brown eyes flashing with anger.

He stared at her hard, but though he didn’t believe it, he couldn’t bring himself to say so.

‘You fool,’ she spat. ‘You goddamned fool.’

He said nothing, though once again he was acutely aware of how badly he was handling it all.

‘Well, I’m not going to turn it down,’ she said, ‘which is what I imagine you were hoping for. I’ve done a lot of work on that movie and I happen to believe in it every bit as much as you do. But just in case you think I’m aiming to take over, or trying to use my incredible
powers
over Forgon, or Tom Chambers, to get them to do things my way … Where are you going? Don’t walk out … Michael!’

He closed the door, then turned to face her. ‘Did you tell Forgon you were pregnant?’ he demanded.

Her face instantly paled. ‘Did I
what
? Are you crazy?’

‘Well he knows, and I sure as hell didn’t tell him. He also knows there’s some doubt about the identity of the father.’

Ellen stared at him in disbelief. ‘How do you know? What did he say?’

Ignoring the question Michael walked back behind his desk. ‘Are you sure you didn’t tell Tom?’ he asked.

‘Of course I’m sure.’

‘What about Matty?’

‘Yes, she knows, but if you seriously think that either she or I … No, I’m not getting into this. You believe what you want to believe, because I’m not about to start defending myself for something I didn’t do. But if it’s OK with Tom and Vic I am going to get involved with the script again, and if you’re thinking that I’m going to use what influence I might have to talk Tom into committing to Matty, then you’re right, I will, because she’s right for that part and you know it.’

There was hardly any colour in Michael’s face as he looked back at her, but anger was all he would allow himself to feel. ‘Well, we all know that you’ve got quite a lot of influence over Chambers,’ he said, ‘so I guess Matty can consider herself cast.’

After she’d gone he remained standing where he was, bound by the shame of his sarcasm, the sound of the slamming door still ringing in his ears.

Ted Forgon looked up from the video he was watching as Glori, his latest secretary, put her head round the door. She wasn’t a bad-looking kid, not a patch on Kerry Jo though, the ex-beauty queen from Dallas he’d had just
prior
to his temporary retirement. He’d spent a fortune on that one, getting her all fixed up with bigger tits, tighter ass, fuller lips (top and bottom) and a wardrobe that’d made Barbie’s look scarce. If the truth be told he’d been planning on marrying Kerry Jo, maybe even having a kid, until he’d come home early one day and caught her screwing the Mexican gardener. Of course, no-one knew about that, they all thought he’d got sick of her and sent her back to Dallas.

‘Sandy Paull’s still on the line,’ Glori said.

Forgon glanced at his watch. That made fifteen minutes she’d been holding, all the way from London. ‘OK, put her on,’ he said, pausing the tape and getting to his feet. He knew only too well what this was about and was in the mood now for getting it over with.

‘Sandy,’ he said into the receiver.

There was a moment as she took her phone off the speaker. ‘We had a deal,’ she spat.

‘We did?’ he drawled.

‘You know damn well we did. I gave you what you needed to control Michael; in return you were taking Ellen Shelby off the movie.’

‘Oh, that deal,’ he said. ‘Well, I guess it seems I changed my mind.’

‘A deal is a deal,’ she exploded. ‘Now I want Ellen Shelby off that movie or you can start kissing goodbye to the European investors.’

Forgon chuckled. ‘You know what?’ he said. ‘You’re better at blow-jobs than you are at bluffing. Now do yourself a favour and get used to the idea of Ellen working with Chambers. I’m sure if Michael can handle it, you can too.’

There was silence at the other end, but he had no problem imagining the fury that was causing it. He thought of his majority shareholding and, realizing that was the one area she could hurt him in, he said, ‘We just need her for some script refinements, once that kid starts
showing
she’ll back off herself, you’ll see.’

He didn’t get the impression she was appeased, but there was no way he was kissing ass. ‘You start planning anything fancy,’ he growled, ‘then Michael’s going to find out who told me about the kid. Or maybe it’ll be Chambers who finds out how you tried to get Ellen off the show. He seems like the kind of guy who’d appreciate a good blow-job. Wonder if he knows that yours come with a price tag?’ He laughed. ‘You know what? It’s making me hard just thinking about what you might do to get me to keep my mouth shut, so be sure to drop by next time you’re in town, won’t you?’ and still laughing he hung up and went back to the video.

Chapter 17

WITH CASTING AND
crewing now almost complete and provisional shoot dates being struck into calendars, both Ellen and Michael were becoming so tied up with their various commitments that even sharing an office suite wasn’t bringing them into contact as much as they would have liked. Not that either of them was prepared to admit that, but Ellen was fairly certain that Michael was just as guilty as she was of searching out excuses for them to meet. And when they were together, instead of the incendiary clashes that had taken place over the last couple of weeks, there was an amazing light-heartedness to their encounters now, much like before they’d broken up, and it was highly entertaining to see how baffled everyone was by it. In truth, it baffled Ellen too, for though it was an act, it didn’t always feel like one, and she didn’t imagine it did for him either.

However, he had given no indication of wanting her to move back to the house, nor, more importantly, of being able to deal with her unfaithfulness and what had resulted. For her part it was becoming harder and harder to hold on to her principles, for she missed their physical closeness terribly, and hated the way they were constantly pretending there was no issue between them at all. But deep in her heart she knew she had to wait for him to come to her; it was the only way this could be resolved satisfactorily, and these past few days she was
daring
to believe that it might not be so long before it happened.